Reservoir of Rabies

Dogs. Stray dogs. All over the Philippines. An epidemic.  An infestation.

If you have followed this blog or if you actually live here you would know that stray dogs are quite the problem in the Philippines! Now it's a new year and new goals have been set. Goals to stem the tide against the "reservoir of rabies"!

http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1060830

Majority of dogs that have not been vaccinated against rabies in Iloilo province are stray, making them a “virus reservoir”, the Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO) warned on Friday. 

Last year, the province, including municipalities and barangays, targeted to vaccinate 70 percent of its dog population. 

Given that this goal has been reached, the remaining 30 percent continues to pose a challenge, PVO Veterinarian, Dr. Darel Tabuada, said in an interview. 

“The 30 percent unvaccinated dogs are most likely be made up of stray dogs,” Tabuada said, adding that they continue their campaign to local government units to widen their dog vaccination coverage to prevent the rabies virus from spreading. 

He called the unvaccinated strays  “virus reservoir” that can transmit the virus to other dogs through biting.

Woof, woof! Oh but guess what? If you get bit you might be out of luck!

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/metro/683473/hospital-reports-fake-rabies-vaccine-sues-distributor/story/

The hospital has reached out to almost 2,000 patients who were administered the fake vaccine to examine and vaccinate them. It has also filed criminal charges against Geramil Trading.  

“We did our obligation to tell the public that this thing is happening and I would now like to put the burden on the Department of Health, that this is a public health issue that should be addressed and confronted,” said The Medical City CEO Dr. Eugenio Ramos. 

The DOH said that the fake vaccine has no ill effects, apart from not being a real vaccine to protect one from rabies. 

Let me get this straight. Being injected with a fake vaccine which is made of who-knows-what will have no adverse effects on your body? Is it just a saline solution? Hopefully the rabies vaccine for dogs is not fake or else one city will not be able to meet its goals to vaccinate 20,000 dogs this year.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1059519

Last year, the CVO was able to vaccinate 19,625 out of the total 20,816 dogs in the city, which is a 94 percent accomplishment rate. 

High density anti-rabies vaccination is an annual activity of the CVO that seeks to maintain Legazpi’s status as a zero-rabies locality. 

Aside from vaccinating dogs, Andes said her office will also conduct all year round impounding of stray dogs to prevent the spread of rabies in the community.

The dogs the city wishes to vaccinate most of all have owners. What is great about this program is the plan to impound stray dogs. It is stray dogs that are the problem. Digging through trash, messing everywhere, biting people on occasion, breeding like mad, and generally causing a ruckus. Is any neighbourhood in this country free from stray dogs? Rounding them up and putting them far away from society sounds like a wonderful idea and the first step to a healthy environment.

Godspeed to Legazpi and Iloilo Cities and their efforts to vaccinate dogs and stem the tide of the "reservoir of rabies."